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Senate to standardize the length of time lights stay yellow

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Missouri Senator with notoriously pointed views on traffic signals, has passed a bill through the state Senate to standardize the length of time lights stay yellow at intersections throughout the state.

Sen. Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis, who has introduced numerous pieces of legislation in the past to eliminate or undermine traffic light cameras, argued that it’s unfair to Missouri motorist to have yellow light signals that vary drastically from intersection to intersection.

“It’s a public safety issue,” Lembke told his Senate colleagues shortly before the voted to send the legislation on to the House of Representatives on Thursday.

The legislation does not stipulate how long yellow light signals are to last, but it does direct the state to come up with a standard length of time in accordance with nationally recognized engineer standards set forth in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. No yellow light could be shorter than the standardized length of time.